Opposition, unions slam Fidesz proposal to raise overtime threshold

Opposition parties and trade unions on Thursday slammed a bill submitted to parliament on Tuesday by lawmakers of the ruling Fidesz that would raise the upper threshold for annual overtime from 250 to 400 hours.

Also, employers would only have to compensate employees every three years for overtime instead of the current 12 months.

LMP

Green opposition LMP said that the bill would “stealthily” introduce a six-day working week.

Hungarian employees already work the longest hours in the European Union for “humiliatingly” low wages, deputy group leader Antal Csárdi said. “It seems the authors of the proposal have turned on their constituents to raise the profit of multinational companies,” he said.

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DK

The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) called on Fidesz to withdraw the proposal. Lawmaker Gábor Nemes told a press conference that the proposal was “unprofessional and unfounded”.

Fidesz “did not consult anyone” before submitting it, he added. Whether it complies with EU regulations is also questionable, he said.

Nemes noted that the amendment would give employers the possibility to “request ten hours of work a day” of their employees.

Trade union federations

Trade union federations MOSZ and Liga said in a statement that the draft was aimed at enacting “an even worse version” of an amendment thwarted in April last year. According to the statement, the changes would benefit employers only, because employees could be required to do more work than is currently legally permitted. The unions warned that the draft, if passed into law, could compromise collective agreements now in effect.

In a statement, the Fidesz party said that anyone who wants to work and earn more should be able to do so without being tangled up in red tape. It added that the Hungarian economy was performing well and the country was on a sustainable growth path, with more and more people in work earning higher wages. “It looks like a lot of people would gladly work even more,” the statement said.

“We’d like to dismantle these bureaucratic obstacles, given that we’re the government of job-creation,” it added.

Fidesz

In a statement, the Fidesz party said that anyone who wants to work and earn more should be able to do so without being tangled up in red tape. It added that the Hungarian economy was performing well and the country was on a sustainable growth path, with more and more people in work earning higher wages. “It looks like a lot of people would gladly work even more,” the statement said.

“We’d like to dismantle these bureaucratic obstacles, given that we’re the government of job-creation,” it added.

RESIDENT DOCTORS: WHY DO NOT WE APPRECIATE MORE THE REMAINING ONES?

Dr Rita Lénárd, an internal specialist, wrote about the difficulties and injustice that resident doctors have to face in Hungary. Her article that appeared on wmn.hu is meant to be a wakeup call, to appreciate those doctors who would stay in Hungary and give them the opportunity to learn. Read more HERE.

Source: MTI